1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to compositions and methods for drilling, cementing and casing boreholes in subterranean formations, particularly hydrocarbon bearing formations. More particularly, the present invention relates to diesel oil based drilling fluids and most particularly to diesel oil-based invert emulsion drilling fluids that provide good stability and performance properties.
2. Description of Relevant Art
A drilling fluid or mud is a specially designed fluid that is circulated through a wellbore as the wellbore is being drilled to facilitate the drilling operation. The various functions of a drilling fluid include removing drill cuttings from the wellbore, cooling and lubricating the drill bit, aiding in support of the drill pipe and drill bit, and providing a hydrostatic head to maintain the integrity of the wellbore walls and prevent well blowouts. Specific drilling fluid systems are selected to optimize a drilling operation in accordance with the characteristics of a particular geological formation.
Oil or synthetic fluid-based muds are normally used to drill swelling or sloughing shales, salt, gypsum, anhydrite or other evaporate formations, hydrogen sulfide-containing formations, and hot (greater than about 300 degrees Fahrenheit (“° F.”) holes, but may be used in other holes penetrating a subterranean formation as well. Unless indicated otherwise, the terms “oil mud” or “oil-based mud or drilling fluid” shall be understood to include synthetic oils or other synthetic fluids as well as natural or traditional oils, and such oils shall be understood to comprise invert emulsions. Generally, as used herein, “higher temperatures” means temperatures over about 120° F. and “lower temperatures” means temperatures at about 40° F. to about 60° F. Rheology of a drilling fluid is typically measured at about 120° F. or about 150° F.
Oil-based muds used in drilling typically comprise: a base oil (or synthetic fluid) comprising the external phase of an invert emulsion; a saline, aqueous solution (typically a solution comprising about 30% calcium chloride) comprising the internal phase of the invert emulsion; emulsifiers at the interface of the internal and external phases; and other agents or additives for suspension, weight or density, oil-wetting, fluid loss or filtration control, and rheology control. Such additives commonly include organophilic clays and organophilic lignites. See H. C. H. Darley and George R. Gray, Composition and Properties of Drilling and Completion Fluids 66-67, 561-562 (5th ed. 1988). An oil-based or invert emulsion-based drilling fluid may commonly comprise between about 50:50 to about 95:5 by volume oil phase to water phase. An all oil mud simply comprises 100% liquid phase oil by volume; that is, there is no aqueous internal phase. Invert emulsion-based muds or drilling fluids (also called invert drilling muds or invert muds or fluids) comprise a key segment of the drilling fluids industry.
Diesel oil-based drilling fluids, and particularly diesel oil-based invert emulsion drilling fluids, have been a staple in onshore and zero-discharge drilling operations for decades, because of their stability, lubricity, temperature tolerance, and ability to inhibit reactive clays. However, diesel oil-based fluids have been known to respond relatively slowly to treatments such as additives for thinning, rheology control, and/or fluid loss, resulting in overtreatment and the need for dilution with more diesel, with consequences of the fluid becoming laden with colloidal solids that can impair drilling performance. Increasingly, drilling fluids have been subjected to greater environmental restrictions and performance and cost demands. There is consequently an increasing need and industry-wide interest in new drilling fluids that provide improved performance while still affording environmental and economical acceptance.